Vera is a girl in the community whose parents left she and her sister when they were young. Vera lives with her sister and niece in a 4 room house. Her sister is a prostitute and when Vera comes home, she often finds men in her house or some nights her sister never comes home. Vera does very well in school and is on the basketball team. Because she is so busy with this, she has no time to work, thus has no source of income. The money her sister makes, she does not share with Vera. The Luca’s support Vera like she is their daughter and they care and love her like their own. Vera calls them her parents. They give her food, clothing, help pay for her bills, and Vera will spend nights with the Luca’s if her sister has men over. Vera wants to go to college after graduation and the Luca’s are going to pay for her schooling and have found a family that she can live with for free while she is away at college.
Vera met the Lucas 8 years ago while going to their Bible camp one summer. Ever since then she has been attending church, been baptized, and is now a leader at the after school Bible camp. The kids at church look up to her and respect her so much. She is a leader in the church and is bringing so many to Christ. And she is only 16 (we were also able to celebrate her birthday with her!)
The Luca’s also have two houses in a small village called Naslavcea. The Luca’s bought these old abandoned houses and have amazing visions for them. They are working on restoring them to use as a place for youth and Christian retreats. The floors are all rotted out, the walls have to be repainted, the yard has to be cleared out and a path to the river needs to be cleared. They make frequent trips to Naslavcea to renovate the home. So while we were here, we ripped up the flooring, put stones on the walls, built an outhouse, cleared out the trees in the backyard, and set up a shower. They hope that in a year, the house will be ready for use so that they can start hosting retreats!
In midst of their crazy busy month, the Luca’s housed and hosted a medical clinic from the US to provide free medical care to anyone in their community. They were up at 5 am every morning and to bed at midnight. They bought food for them, we cleaned the school where the medical clinic was held, and they opened up their home for the doctors to sleep in.
The Luca’s also seem to know everyone here. Whenever we are riding in their “Mystery Machine” Andrei honks and waves at about every car we pass by. When we walk back from church, Larisa stops and talks to almost everyone we walk by. When the people they talk to see them, their faces light up and they are so excited to talk to them.
And although they have a crazy busy life, they still take time to make us feel loved and blessed. They took time out of their day to bring us to a cave, and a mountain. They showed us around Ocnita, and are always sharing their food with us. They have blessed us so much this month and have made us feel loved and appreciated.
It has been such a blessing to be able to work beside such people of Christ. They have showed me what it means to be selfless and how to love unconditionally. The Luca’s love the kids and youth and they give them the love that many don’t get at home. They are truly bringing the love of Christ to their community and God is using them to spread His love around this country. In everything they do, God has given the Luca’s so much joy. They have so much energy and are always ready for the next adventure God has for them. God is using them in such big ways and they are continually listening to God’s voice and doing and going where He is calling them.
checkout the video my teammate made from our month here on Moldova!!
